Automatic self-dropping trolley-pole.



No. 7 4, PATENTED MAR. 7, 1905.

' J. DELANE.

AUTOMATIC SELF DROPPING TROLLEY POLE.

APPLICATION FILED BEPT.5, 1aos.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J Witnesses: @flufw H Invenior A701 P?'/ AS g fl 'ey inFac.

PATENTED MAR. '7, 1905.

J. DELANE.

AUTOMATIC SELF DROPPING TROLLEY POLE.

APPLIUATION FILED $BPT.5,-1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. I

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inflict.

ITE u STATES Patented March 7, 1905..

PATENT rrrnn.

AUTOMATIC SELF-DROPPING TROLILEY POLE SPECIFICATION forming part ofLetters Patent No. 784,038, dated March '7, 1905.

Application filed September 5, 1903- Serial No. 172,125.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN DELANE, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Terre Haute, in the county of Vigo and State of Indiana,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in an AutomaticSelf-Dropping Trolley-Pole; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, which form part of thisspecification.

My invent-ion relates to improvements in trolley-poles and to that classof trolley-poles used upon electric cars, and particularly toirm'n'ovements in types; and the objects of my invention are, first, toprovide a trolley-pole which will drop itself automatically immediatelyupon the trolley-wheel becoming disengaged from the su iply-wire;second, to provide a trolley-pole which will automatically drop itselfwhen disengaged from the supply- Wire to a horizontal position or otherdesired position and which will check itself in its fall before strikingthe roof of the car upon which it is mounted; third, to provide atrolley-pole which by reason of its automatic drop will be much lessliableto injury in case of accidents than other trolley poles usedheretofore; fourth, toprovide a trolley-pole which will not springupward and catch upon cross-wires and other overhead mechanism, therebygreatly lessening the danger from broken live wires; lifth, to provide atrolley-pole which can be used upon cars which are run under lowbridges, through tunnels, and other like places where supply-wires mustof necessity be placed a minimum distance above the car-top, and, sixth,to provide such a trolley-pole which can be more easily, quickly, andsafely re placed when accidentally disengaged from the supply wire thanother trolley-poles used prior to my invention. These objects I attainby means of the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure 1 illustrates my trolley-pole when depressed or disengaged.Fig. 2 illustrates my trolley-pole when elevated and engaging asupply-wire. Fig. 3 is an end view of the stand when the pole ishorizontal. Fig. t is a detail plan of a portion of the trolley-polewhen depressed and showing by dotted lines the position of thelever-arms when the pole is elevated. Fig. 5 is a detail of the hingedlever b. Fig. 6 is a view of the plate Similar letters of referencerefer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The letter (1, indicates the arm or pole proper, which is constructed ofwood, iron, or other suitable material. The letter 6 indicates a leverwhich, as shown in Fig. 5, consists of a cylindrical portion 7/, adaptedto receive any form of trolley-wheel harp h, a projecting boss I)", thetwo sides of which are adapted to support the shaft of a pulley c, andthe portion (1, which is open upon the lower side for the purpose offitting around the extreme end of the arm a and the opposite sides ofwhich are perforated for the purpose of receiving the pinion ,1),whereby the lever I; is

movably attached to the ferrule (W upon theextreme end of the arm a,making a hingelike connection therewitl'l. Aloopois attached to the bossI) for the purpose of guiding the hereinafter-mentioned cable 11)..

The ferrule d is provided with a bifurcated boss 0, adapted to supportthe shaft of a pulley 0 similar, in size and immediately behind thepulley c; When the lever is in normal position, itisinline with the armof the pole, and the two pulleys c and 0 lie so close to one anotherthat a ball At, attached to the cable m, cannot pass between saidpulleys, but will be held between them in a vise-like manner as long asthe lever is in line with the arm a.

The letter (2 indicates a socket in which the arm of the pole is mountedand which consists of a hollow portion 0, provided with any convenientform of clamp for the purpose of clamping the arm (t in the socket, andthe solid portion 1/, adapted to lit into the stand S, wherein it isheld by the shaft s.

The stand S consists of the circular base t and the housing 6. Thehousing t, as shown, consists of two standard-like sides adapted toserve as a support for the socket c, which is mounted therein upon theshaft The housing t is closed in front,and the front wall projectsupward above the side walls and is curved backward for the purpose offorming a butting-block for the pole, whereby the pole will be preventedfrom ever raising to quite a perpendicular position.

The shaft 8 is supported by the side walls of the housing 6 andprotrudes upon either side thereof for the purpose of supporting'twopulleys a, one upon each side of the housing 6, for the purposehereinafter set forth.

The letter 2' indicates a clamp which is mounted upon the arm (t, asshown in Fig. 4:, and which is provided with two lugs 11, one uponeither side of the pole, for the purpose of supportingtwo levers a. Thelevers "a are strong metallic arms, fulcrumed, by means of the clamp 71,to opposite sides ofthe arm a and projecting forward upon either side ofthe stand S. The free or outer ends of the levers a are provided withsmall pulleys q for the purpose of guiding the hereinafter-mentionedcables in.

The letter j indicates a double sheave which is attached to the arm a ofthe trolley-pole at a correctly-proportioned distance from the clamp andwhich isprovided with two pulleys g, which guide the two cables m,whichpass between said two pulleys.

The letter j indicates a bolt or other convenient fastening which isattached to the under side of the arm a at a position correctlyproportioned between the sheave 7' and the clamp 17 and to which theends'of two cables m are attached. The cables m pass from the bolt 1',to which they are attached, to and outwardly around the pulleys (1 atthe end of the levers u, thence to the pulleys 9, around which,respectively, the cables pass upon the inner side thereof, and then to acommon point, where they are attached. to a single cable on, whichpasses to and over the pulley a at the end of the arm a, thence underthe pulley c and through the guiding-loop 0 of the lever b, and thenceto the rear platform of the car, whereby in the hands of the conductorthe trolley-pole may be controlled, as described hereinafter.

The letter /1 indicates a strong metallic spring-bar which consists of aheavy head portion, which is fastened firmly within the housing 6 justabove the base t, and a threaded spring-rod, which projects backwardfrom the upper portion of the head portion for the purpose ofcontrolling a strong spiral spring 0;. A strong plate ;2 perforated atits center for the purpose of receiving the outer end of the spring-rod,upon which it is movably confined by the nut .2 upon the extremethreaded end of said spring-rod. The opposite sides of the plate 3 areperforated for the purpose of receiving and supporting the threaded endsof two tension-rods 1*, which project forward from said plate parallelto the aXis of the spring a" and are correctly proportioned in length inrelation to the length of the spring a. Two strong chains or cables fare attached, respectively, to the free ends of the tension-rods 9',whence they pass to the under side of the two pulleys a upon the standS, thence around and over said pulleys and to bolts a. mounted upon thelevers u, whereby the chains or cables f are attached to the saidlevers, as shown. hen my trolley-pole is free from all tension and thepole is in normal position, the arm lies horizontal with the levers aprojecting forward upon each side of the stand, and the spring a? isnormal. To raise the arm a and engage the overhead suppl y-wire w withthe trolley-wheel w, it is only necessary for the conductor to pull uponthe cable m until the ball it passes between the pulleys c and 0',whereby the levers a will be pulled backward and reversed, thereby throiing tension through the chains or cables f upon the spring 0:. bearingupon the pulleys 11, attached to the shaft .9, which supports the arm a,will then pull the arm a upward until the trolley-wheel w upon the endof the lever b will engage the supply-wire w. The downward pressure ofthe supply-wire w will hold the lever 7) in line with the aXis of thearm a, and thereby force and hold the two pulleys c and 0" closetogether, thus preventing the ball 71' upon the cable at from passingbackward between the said pulleys. In this manner the ball is is firmlyheld by the two pulleys cand c", and the cable m, to which the ball isattached, sustains the tension upon the spring (1/, and the trolley-poleis held firmly against the supply-wire.

hnmediately upon the trolley-wheel 20 becoming disengaged from the wire10, either purposely or accidentally, the downward pressure upon thelever b is removed and the clamping efiect upon the ball it between thepulleys c and c is removed, allowing the ball to pass over the pulley 0,thereby releasing the pressure upon the spring a." and incidentally allsupport of the arm a, which will immediately fall of its own weight tonormal or horizontal position.

The tension of the spring 00' will prevent the arm a from falling belowa horizontal position and striking the top of the car, and the pole maybe checked in its fall at any desired position by adjusting the spring0/ by means of the nut upon the end of the spring-bar T. \Vhen thetrolley-wheel upon my trolley-pole strikes a hanger or other slightobstacle, the entire pole is depressed slightly; but the hingelikeconnection of the lever 7) permits the wheel to cling close to theobstacle and to again engage the wire without springing clear away andbecoming disengaged. In such event the pulleys 0 and 6 separateslightly, admitting the ball 7'; farther between them, but immediatelyclose again,and by reason of the spherical contour of the ball 7v it isforced back into proper position without danger of releasing the pole.

l 111 attaching my trolley-pole to the various The chains or cables f,

forms of trolley-stands now on the market it will be necessary to makealterations in the method of attachment of the actuating members of mytrolley-pole, and I. therefore reserve the right to make such minoralterations without departing from the general principle of my inventionas may be necessary to adapt the same to different forms of stands.

The ad vantages of my invention over other like trolley-poles used priorhereto are, first, my trolley-pole when accidentally disengaged from thesupply-wire immediately drops of its own weight without danger ofcatching upon overhead cross-wires, bridgework, or other fixtures andwithout the assistance of the conductor; second, by reason of theself-action of my trolley-pole when accidentally disengaged the dangerof damage to the trolley-pole is obviated, and the checking of thetrolley-pole when falling in a horizontal or other convenient positionprevents the pole from striking and injuring the top of the car, therebyobviating a large expense due to repairs necessary when other forms oftrolley-poles are used; third, the peculiar structure and position ofthe different actuating members of my invention enable the trolley-poleto be de-' pressed parallel and close to the top of the car and withoutany upward projections, thereby adapting it to use in tunnels and underlow bridgework and in other similar places, where a minimum headway ispossible and other types of trolley-poles impracticable.

l am aware that the use of a trolley'pole as a means of conducting powerfrom supplywires to cars is not new, and my trolley-pole is adapted tocarry any form of trolley-harp and to be mounted upon any of thewell-known forms of trolley-stands, and 1 therefore make no broad claimsupon such appliances.

In applying my trolley-pole to stands of the various well-known forms itis necessary to make minor alterations in the same, which may be donewithout departing from the gen eral principle of the invention, and Ireserve the right to make such alterations as may be necessary.

llaving described my invention, its objects, and()IJGI'itlilOl'l,Wli2tli I claim as new and useful, and desire toprotect by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a trolley-pole, the combination of a trolley-arm a, which is freeto fall of its own weight, when disengaged, with a lever I), mounteduponsaid arm a, and adapted to carry atrolley-wheel, the socket 0adapted to [it into the housing of the stand S and to support the arm a,the stand S adapted to support the trolleypole upon the top of a car,the shaft a, supported by the stand S and, adapted to support the socketc and the two pulleys a, the two pulleys it upon either end of the shaft8, the two levers a movably attached to the arm a by means of the clampvi and provided at their outer ends with the pulleys r the clamp c', thespring-bar c attached to the stand S and adapted to support the spring:r', the plate and the tension-rods r and the nuts 2', the spring :1 theplate 1 the nut and the tension-rods 1', the chains or cables f, one endof each of which is attached to the corresponding tOnSlOIi-POLlS r andthe other to the levers a, the cables m attached to the bolt j, actingover the pulleys q and 1 and connected with the cable m, the cable madapted to pass from the cables m to and over the pulley c and to thecar-platform, the ball l: attached to the cable-m and adapted to engagethe pulleys c and c, and the pulley c", the sheave j provided with thetwo pulleys 1', all substantially as described and for the purpose setforth.

2. In a trolley-pole, the combination of a trolley-arm (1/, the lever bmovably mounted upon said trolley-arm and adapted to be drawn into andout of line with the axis of the trolley-arm a, and to support a trolleyharp and wheel upon the outer end thereof and the pulley c pendent fromb, with the socket c adapted to support the trolley-arm 1/, the stand Sadapted to support the socket i, the shaft s and the two pulleys a, theshaft s and pulleys a, the spring-bar :11, mounted within the stand Sand bearing the adjustable spring 41 the tension-rods 0' attached to theplate 1 mounted upon the tension-bar, the nut .2 adapted to adjust thespring w, the bolt j and illey-bean ing sheavej, mounted upon the arm aand the cables m and m, attached to the boltj', the chains or cablesf,attached to the tension-rods 1' and the lovers a, respectively, thelevers a attached to the arm (t provided with the pulleys 11 adapted toguide and be controlled by the cables 11/ in conjunction with the chainsor eablesf, the ferrule (1 mounted upon the end of the arm (I/ andprovided with the pulley c and the ball Z attached to the cable m,adapted to lock the trolley-pole in an upright position, allsubstantially as described and shown and for the purpose set forth.

3. .In a trolley-pole, the combination of a trolley-arm (1, adapted tofall when disengaged of its own weight, and provided at its upper endwith a lever 71, which is in hinge-like connection therewith, and whichis provided with a pendent boss 7) adapted to support a pulley c andprovided with a guide-1001M), said lever I) being adapted to support atrolley-wheel 0/), with a socket 0 adapted to support the trolleyarm (a,mounted upon the stand S, the stand S provided with a shaft s and twopulleys w, the spring-bar m and spring :0, plate ;1 and tension-rods a,movably attached to the springbar at, the cables or chains f, the leversa attached to the arm a, and provided with the pulleys r the cables mand m attached to said arm (t and adapted to control the actuatingmechanism thereof, and the ball 1 upon the cable an adapted to lock thepole or arm in an upright position, all substantially as shown and forthe purpose set forth.

t. In a trolley-pole, the combination of a ITO provided with a ferrule(Z and lever L in hingeupright position, all substantially as shown IOand for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I aflix my signaturein the presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN DELANE.

trolley-arm a, free to fall of its own Weight,

Witnesses:

SYD B. DAvIs, JOHN S. JORDAN.

